As I stated earlier, we’re open to ideas and suggestions, but this is the first time I’ve heard about Grade 13 through the engagement that we’ve had. It hasn’t been brought up but it’s been brought up now, so we can have that part of our discussion. I know that Ontario had Grade 13 before, and they got away from that, so we have to find out the pros and cons at that level, as well, but surely we can take those into consideration as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I’m looking at what can we do for our students who are graduating with a Grade 12 diploma. Sometimes a diploma is not as strong as we want it to be. I’m looking at ways we can build self-esteem and self-confidence for these Grade 12 graduates. Having a Grade 13 in our high schools would give them that confidence, so when they apply for college in Fort Smith or any other college in the Northwest Territories or a post-university institution down south, it would make them feel that, yes, I do have an incredible diploma. If we have a Grade 13 program in our schools, that would fit them into…other than just to send them out and apply for Aurora College upgrading programs or an access program. This would be more successful.

I ask the Minister again, in his search for solutions and better education in the North, is this something that he would investigate with his department and colleagues and say, can we do this?

Mr. Speaker, certainly that will be part of the option that we can consider as we discuss part of the action plan and moving forward. Again, reiterating that this is the first I heard on the Grade 13. We haven’t heard that before. It will be new to the Northwest Territories. By all means, we can definitely be discussing that. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know our students can do it. Last year at the Colville Lake high school, there were three graduates and they did it through the new technology. I’m looking at these small communities and I’m asking that this Grade 13 concept be seen in the minds of the people in the Northwest Territories and see if it has some value in offering this type of program.

Would the Minister be able to report back to the Assembly on this concept by the end of this year

and say, yes, it has value? Would he be able to do that?

Mr. Speaker, we will be conducting research and see what we come up with and I will be sharing that with the standing committee. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We talked about junior kindergarten along with other initiatives that we want to start working towards as part of our Early Childhood Development Framework and rolling out the action plan towards that. Part of that discussion is thinking about junior kindergarten. From what we’ve heard, we’ve heard over and over that we have to start from an early age.

There have been several reports. The Member and other Members, as well, reported on various research. One of the reports, of course, is from Ontario, that has very encouraging results, with a 7 percent increase in the number of children who are ready for Grade 1 learning as measured by Early Development Instruments. Those are just some of the areas, and it’s very important to recognize that kindergarten is also an option for the NWT; it’s not mandatory. Those are just some of the things we

are considering as part of our approach on these initiatives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister. At the risk of being contrary, I would like to say to the Minister that there is also an article that talks about Ontario’s kindergarten and that any benefits from junior kindergarten and kindergarten are lost by grade 3 or 4 and everybody is back to being on the same level, so I don’t think junior kindergarten is the panacea he’s suggesting.

We have a couple of junior kindergarten pilots right now. From what I understand, at least one of them, and I suspect all of them, are in a classroom combined with kindergarten, so you have junior kindergarten students in the same classroom as kindergarten students. From what I hear, that’s not working very well at all.

I would like to know from the Minister, if we go forward with junior kindergarten, what is the plan of the department to house kindergarten and junior kindergarten in our schools. Will they be in the same room or will they have their own classrooms? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will just again reiterate some of the findings. Long-term studies found that academic gains of entry to school will shorten a very few years at the beginning, but pay out significantly later in adolescence and adulthood. Those are just some of the school completion learning having an effective lifestyle.

When it comes to a proposed junior kindergarten, we have to work with the DEAs and DECs as well. We are working closely, of course, with Health and Social Services, as well, because it will have very positive ripple effects into our communities. These are just the preliminary findings that we’ve had and the action plan pertaining to that. We will be working very closely with all of the stakeholders that are at hand. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. The Minister speaks to research that talks about junior kindergarten and kindergarten and the benefits of that, and has been pointed out by Mr. Bromley many times and myself a number of times, the science also, and the research particularly, supports the larger gains that are made when we provide the early childhood programs for zero to three.

If we do implement junior kindergarten, it’s going to be a very costly venture. I have no idea what the estimate of the amount of money that’s going to be required, but if we put junior kindergarten into every one of our 49 schools – I think it’s 49 we have – that’s going to be a lot of money.

I’d like to ask the Minister how he expects that junior kindergarten will be funded. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten obviously is an investment into our schools, into our children. Obviously, we have to find funds to offset the costs. We are exploring those areas and we need to move forward on this. Now we have a framework that’s been tabled in this House and an action plan is part of that moving forward. The junior kindergarten has been proposed. I believe it will benefit the children, the schools and the communities, the regions, the whole Northwest Territories, comparable to other junior kindergartens in Ontario and other places. We want to be on par with other jurisdictions as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister that anything we do for our children is an investment, but I believe again that he is misplaced in putting the investment in junior kindergarten as opposed to investing in our children from birth to three years of age.

Knowing that the research says that the science proves that the earlier we invest, the better the results later on, I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider, in the development of this action plan, putting off implementing junior kindergarten for at least five years until we can see the effects of early childhood development programs on our kids from birth to zero or four. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten has been highlighted. We did share with the standing committee, as well, what the plan is. From what we’ve heard from the general public, our engagement has told us that we have start from an early age, as well, so those individuals will be prepared when they enter K-12. So, we need to roll out the program. Part of the action plan will cover that. So, I will be informing the standing committee on the progress at that level. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Yellowknife Center, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about social workers and the need for social work training and the appropriate education that could rightly fit in at Aurora College.

As we all know, you can parachute somebody into the North but that doesn’t necessarily truly make them a Northerner. It’s almost something that has to be born and bred into your DNA. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education a particular question

about the department’s point of view when it comes to Northerners.

Does the department feel that trained, northern graduates who are Northerners have a longer-term investment into the future of the North? As such, do you think that Northerners represent the culture and language of communities better here in the North than southern transplants? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, the northern graduates are very beneficial to the Northwest Territories, to our communities and to our regions. So we continue to push forward the delivery of certification, diplomas, degree programs and even into master’s programs nowadays in our Aurora College, the three campuses that we have. We are starting to build on our strength with delivering various programs into communities; we’ll continue to push that forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We know, without any doubt, that the Minister is a strong advocate for language, culture and small communities. As the Minister and from the department’s point of view, does the Minister believe that small communities and, more specifically, First Nations families and Northerners, would they be more receptive of social workers trained here in the Northwest Territories that are both culturally and, in a language context, familiar with this environment, versus southern-trained social workers who take these jobs and are trained elsewhere outside the North? Thank you.

The Social Work Program has been very successful to date in the Northwest Territories. We had some previous graduates, 24 grads in the last five years. So the numbers may not be as high, but those are just some of the key areas, the key findings, that we must invest into the students and into the programming. We also have partnerships with the University of Regina to continue with the degree programs, the master’s programs. There have been talks about having potentially a bachelor studies in social work. That is some of the exploration that we are conducting with the college, the three campuses, along with potential partners from southern jurisdictions. We are exploring those areas. Mahsi.

I’m glad the Minister brought up 24 grads in the last five years. If anyone’s math is as good as mine, you’ll realize that’s less than five a year, on average, that graduate from the program. Statistics speak for themselves. As I understand it, far more don’t graduate than enter the program. Maybe the Minister can enlighten this House on the statistics. As I’m aware of it, we can have 30 people who enter the program in one

intake year, but only five come out of the program. To me, our statistics aren’t showing good results.

Would the Minister enlighten this House on the intake of the program and our success rate?